Oil prices tumbled after the CME group raised crude futures margins by 25 percent following volatile trading in recent sessions, while Greek woes pulled the euro down to a six-week low against the yen on Tuesday.

Stocks were treading water with Japanese <.N225> and Australian <.AXJO> benchmarks in the negative zone while Taiwan's exporters helped the index <.TWII> edge higher.

The euro fell to a six-week low against the yen on Tuesday on worries an international bailout package for Greece may not be sustainable and that the country may need a more lenient plan.

In the short-term, there could be more unwinding of euro/dollar long positions due to negative news on fringe euro zone countries' debt problems, said Junya Tanase, FX strategist at JP Morgan Chase Bank in Tokyo.

However, silver rose as much as 2 percent in Asia to extend its recovery, while gold held firm. Silver tumbled more than 25 percent last week, triggering the sell-off in other commodities.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei average shed 0.2 percent to 9,776.40, and was seen holding a narrow range, shares outside of Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> were up 0.2 percent.

U.S. crude was down 1.7 percent at $100.77 a barrel by 0109 GMT, off a low of $100.46. Brent crude dropped 1.2 percent to $114.46, off a low of $114.

(Corrects second paragraph to remove reference to South Korean stocks and fixes name of FX strategist, Nikkei index.)

Japan